Casket placer



March 1l, 1952 J. P. wlLKlRsoN 2,588,445

GASKET PLACER Filed De'C. 28. 1949 INVEN TOR.

J. P WILKIRSON AT TORNEY ffm Patented Mar. 11, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE GASKET PLACER Jim P. Wilkirson, Waco, Tex.

Application December 28, 1949, Serial No. 135,439

This invention relates to casket placers or casket lowering apparatus.

In my Patent No. 2,012,367, dated Aug. 27, 1935, I disclosed'a casketlowering apparatus which has been in commercial use for many years. Theconstruction of that apparatus however is not lwholly satisfactory, asthe end of a casket which is being moved endwise over the apparatus mayhit the rst strap I5 or the rst set of rollers on the short arms I'I orIla, which will stop further movement of the casket and compel theundertakers assistants who are handling the casket to move the casketbackward, swing its forward end up to clear the strap and arms, and thenresume forward movement. This invention is an improvement over theconstruction of said patent as it makes the described operatingdifficulty impossible. ,v

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the improved casket placer;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1 but on a larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a detail on a still larger scale, being a section on line 4 4of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view; and

Fig. 6 is an exploded perspective of certain parts on a larger scale.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the improved casket placer hasthe conventional rectangular frame I adapted to be positioned over thegrave surrounding the opening, and having end bars II, I2 and rotatableextensible shafts I3 extending along the two sides and operativelyconnected with gears (not shown) in the housings or casings I4 at thefour corners of the frame. Canvas or other strong straps I have theirends wound on the side shafts I3 and extend transversely of the frameparallel to each other and to the end bars II, I2 and lie almosthorizontal when stretched across the frame to receive the casket. Aroller I6 is rotatably supported on end bar I2, by clamps ISa, and asshown in Figs. 2 and 3, the top of said roller` is above the frame endso that the casket will engage it and roll over the frame. Winding up ofthe straps is accomplished by a crank (not shown) engaged with the endof a crankshaft C (Fig. 1) fixed to one of the gears. The casket itselfunwinds the strap as it descends into the grave. Each side shaft I3 alsosupports a pair of short arms II, I'Ia on each of which a roller I8 isrotatably mounted. As disclosed in the aforesaid pat- 6 Claims. (C1.27-32) ent, these arms Il, I'Iya normally extend horizontally when thestraps are taut and aid in preventing the end of the casket fromstriking and being stopped by one of the straps, since they support thecasket end at points intermediate the straps. To guide the casket on tothe farther pair Vof arms, a pair of guide rods 39 are secured in aslightly inclined position (Fig. 2), one end of each guide rod beingfixed below an arm I1 while the other end is fixed above the arm I'Iawhich is on the same side of the frame. These guide rods are describedand claimed in the aforesaid patent and need not be further discussed.

Sometimes the described construction will give trouble as there isnothing to prevent inattentive or hurried or inexperienced attendantsfrom thrusting the end of the casket against the edge of the strap I5near roller I6 or against the first pair of arms I'I. A heavy casketstriking the rst strap or the first pair of arms may shift the entirecasket placer relative to the grave, as the casket placer iscomparatively light in weight and is not anchored but merely rests onthe ground. Distressing scenes may ensue if a casket placer is shiftedover an open grave: such incidents naturally reect on the mortician incharge of the funeral.

To prevent the possibility of striking the first pair of arms with theend of the casket, I have devised the improvment which will now be described. Secured to the end bar I2 are a pair of clamping collars 20each of which consists of a pair of complementary members which arehinged together at one end 2l and are united by a screw or stud 22 atthe other end. The clamping collars 2li surround and are clamped uponend bar l2 so as to be immovable thereon. A pivot pin 23 having anenlarged head 24 at one end and a lug 25 projecting radially from theopposite end is received in a cylindrical bearing 2'I provided adjacenthinge end 2I. A slotted sleeve 28 may be slid over the pivot pin 23 whenits slot 29 registers with the lug 25, and said sleeve will lie outsideof bearing 2l and be freelyrrotatable on the pivot pin, while the pivotpin is held against endwise or axial movement by engagement of its head24 with bearing 2l (Fig. 5) and by engagement of its lug 25 with theouter end of sleeve 28. If preferred the bearing 21 by slightly changingits dimensions may become a clamp to secure the pivot pin against anymovement. Fixed to the slotted sleeve at right angles and hence pivotedon pivot pin 23 is a guide rod 3U having its outer end reduaed as at 3|and underlying the rst strap I5, as shown in Fig. 3. This guide rodextends longitudinally of the frame and lies in an upwardly inclinedplane, with its extremity resting on a projection 32 fixed to the end ofarms I1. Projection 32 may have a concavity 33 (Fig. 4) on its top toreceive the extremity of the guide rod. Both guide rods 30 are exactlyalike and are positioned alike. If the first.strap l5 is not wound verytight, it may be supported in its middle by the two parallel guide rods30, as will be clear from the drawings.

When the trip handle 40 is moved to permit lowering of the casket, theextremities of the guide rods 30 will slide oil the projection 32 andthe guide rods will then drop down by gravity out of the way of thecasket before the arms I1, IIa are clear of the casket. The sleeves 28which are fixed to the ends of the guide rods are freely rotatable onthe pivot pins 23 to permit this gravity fall of the guide rods. Whenthe casket placer is first set up over the grave the attendant merelyswings the guide rods upwardly by hand and rests their extremities onthe projections 32. The guide rods are of uniform diameter except forthe reduced end portions 3| and are designed to t against the edge ofthe rst strap as shown in Fig. 3, so that when the casket slides overthe guide rods it can not strike the first strapon its edge.

The described construction will obviate all incidents involving hittingthe rst strap or the first set of rollers with the end of the casket,

hence will enhance the dignity of an interment.

Obviously many changes of minor importance may be made without departingfrom the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having described one embodiment of my invention, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a casket placer of the type having a frame having a roller at oneend and a pair of flexible substantially horizontal straps upon whichthe casket is to be placed before lowering into the grave, said strapsbeing wound upon rotatable members forming parts of said frame, and apair of short roller arms extending horizontally toward each other fromopposite sides of the frame with their tops in a plane slightly abovethe plane of said straps, that, improvement which consists in theprovision of a pair of guide rods, means for pivotally supporting theguide rods at one end upon the roller-carrying end of the frame, andmeans fixed to and projecting from the short roller arms adapted to lieunder and directly support the free ends of the guide rods, thesupported guide rods extending longitudinally of the frame but swingingdownwardly out of the way when support from the means which project fromthe short roller arms is withdrawn.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the guide rods are inclinedupwardly from their pivotal supports and have strap-receiving reducedportions adapted to lie under and partly support the strap which isnearer to the frame end which supports the guide rod.

3. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the means fixed to andprojecting from each short roller arm consists of a projection having arecess on its top providing a seat for the extremity of the guide rod,said projection being so located that the top of the guide rod extremityis practically at the top of the roller on the short roller arm, thepivoted end of the guide rod being however below the level of the rollerwhich is at the frame end.

4. The invention dened in claim 1, wherein the means fixed to andprojecting from each short roller arm consists of a projection having arecess on its top providing a seat for the extremity of the guide rod,said projection being so located that the top of the guide rod extremityis practically at the top of the roller on the short roller arm, thepivoted end of the guide rod being however below the level of the rollerwhich is at the frame end, the guide rods each having a strapreceivingreduced portion adapted to lie under and partly support the strap whichis nearer to the frame end which supports the guide rod, the remainingportion of the guide rod including a part which lies adjacent the sideedge of said strap and extends as high as the top surface of the strapwhen the strap is substantially horizontal, so that the casket iscarried over the top of the strap without danger of hitting the sideedge thereof.

5. The invention defined in claim 1, wherein the means for pivotallysupporting each guide rod consists of a clamp adapted to be removablysecured to the frame end below the roller, a pivot pin carriedhorizontally by said clamp, a radial lug on the end of the pivot pin, aslotted sleeve adapted to be slipped over the end of the pivot pin whenits slot registers with the lug and adapted to be locked against axialmovement along the pivot pin during normal operation of the casketplacer by its engagement at its opposite ends with the lug and clamp,the guide rod being rigidly secured to the slotted sleeve at rightangles thereto.

6. A casket placer comprising, in combination, a frame having two endsand two sides, a pair of casket-supporting straps wound upon the frame,and casket-guiding and supporting members each pivotally mounted at oneend upon a frame end and extending longitudinally of the frame under oneof the straps but extending from a level below the frame end where it issupported to a level as high as the top surface of said strap when saidstrap is substantially horizontal, each casketguiding and supportingmember being shaped so that at its highest point it lies adjacent theedge of the strap which is toward the aforesaid end of the frame andmeans supported on the frame to temporarily support the outer ends ofthe casket-guiding and supporting members.

JIM P. WILKIRSON.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Wilkirson Aug. 27, 1935Number

